SELF-HELP PREVENTION: SAFETY IN KITCHEN AND BATHROOM
Kitchen
• Have cupboards that can be reached easily without having to stand on chairs or steps.
• Turn saucepans on cookers so that the handles don’t stick out.
• Keep poisons, cleaning fluids and disinfectants high up and preferably locked away.
• Don’t prise open cans with fingers.
• Never leave fat heating in a pan on the cooker unattended.
• Wipe up spills at once.
• Don’t polish floors highly.
• Put all sharp things in drawers.
• Check the safety of plugs and wiring on domestic equipment.
• Don’t overload electric sockets.
• Use a brush and dustpan to sweep up broken glass or china.
• Have a fire extinguisher or fire blanket handy and know how to use it.
• Never put water on a fat fire-put a lid on the pan or cover it with a fire blanket.
• Teach children to respect kitchen machinery.
• Have a first-aid kit handy
• Never leave a flex from an electric kettle overhanging the edge of a work surface.
Bathroom
• Keep all drugs and medicines out of children’s reach, preferably in a special cupboard that
locks. Place the medicine cupboard high on the wall so that children can’t reach it.
• Flush all old medicines and those without labels down the lavatory.
• Ask the Gas Board to service the water heater yearly.
• Choose non-slip flooring.
• Have a non-slip backing to the bathroom mat.
• Use a non-slip mat in the bath for the young and old.
• Run cold water before hot when filling the bath.
• Ban portable, mains-operated electrical appliances from the bathroom.
• The heater should be high up on the wall or ceiling but not over the bath.
• Have a pull cord for the light switch.
• Have a proper razor socket only -no other power outlets.
• Keep razors well out of children’s reach.
• Never block ventilation holes if you have a gas water heater in the bathroom.
• Never leave children alone in the bath.
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